


spirit tales

by sangi



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-15
Updated: 2012-09-15
Packaged: 2017-11-14 07:56:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/513023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sangi/pseuds/sangi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Asami," she says, voice serious and low, "what if I never get my bending back? What if I end up being Korra, the Avatar that couldn't bend?" Asami helps Korra, spiritually broken and bleeding, find her fire again. -- For Korrasami week, prompt "fairy tales." Could be gen or shippy; up to you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	spirit tales

**Author's Note:**

> This is way longer than originally planned. For Korrasami week, prompt "fairy tales."

1.

"With that, the flamingo-pig led Iroh from the spirit world. He was never to return there again."

Closing the book (volume two of  _Dragon of the West_ ), Asami glances up at her captive audience: piled on Korra's bed are the Avatar and the three airbending children. Jinora is the only one still awake, sitting near the bottom bedposts with sleepy eyes and a determined look on her face. Asami hides a smile; of course the girl had to hear the conclusion of the tale. She had been the one to ask. "Can we just read one chapter?" she had begged with her big, brown eyes. "Just one, together?" Asami had relented, talking Korra into using her room. The Avatar herself is dozing further up on the bed, with Ikki and Meelo asleep and curled against the warmth of her body.

Jinora, always excited at the beginning of a story but rarely satisfied at the end, looks puzzled. "But why didn't Iroh stay? The spirit told him that he would show him what had happened to Lu Ten and where he was."

Asami sets the book on the chair as she stands, stretching the muscles in her back. She smiles at the young airbender's confused face. "Maybe Iroh knew that the knowledge would be dangerous."

"Even if was dangerous, it was worth it. He journeyed all the way to the spirit world, why shouldn't he find out the answer?"  _Because maybe he didn't want to know the answer,_ Asami thinks.  _Because sometimes finding out the truth hurts more than never knowing._  Her youth makes the older girl's chest ache. It's a wonder that such an intelligent girl like Jinora can manage to keep her innocence through everything in the past few months, through the attacks before and after the revolution, through tears and grit and sweat.

"Well," Asami says, bringing her hand up to her chin as if thinking, "it could have been the price. The spirit told Iroh that he had to pay a price, and maybe the price was too high." The younger girl is still frowning, but Asami places a hand on her shoulder and nods to her siblings. "Will you help me get them to bed?"

Shooting her a dirty look, Jinora crawls back up the bed and starts to gather Meelo in her arms. Asami notes to herself that Tenzin's oldest daughter is probably getting too smart for adult-guided misdirection. She'll no doubt think over what Asami said later and come to her own conclusions about the story, then corner her in some secluded area of the temple complex and interrogate her some more.

Meelo resists Jinora's attempts at first, small hands clinging to Korra's sheets, chubby cheeks a light pink color. With insistent hands and a soft touch, his  sister finally extracts him from the cover. He whimpers. "I don't wanna go." Meelo's voice is but a whisper against his sister's chest. "Pretty lady is reading us story."

When Asami places a hand on his little head, he quiets. "Story's over, Meelo. Time for bed." He makes a soft noise of assent, eyes still closed, and a yawning Jinora carries him out of the room.

Ikki is still asleep next to Korra, and she shakes the girl's shoulder in an attempt to wake her. "Mom," she whines, "five more minutes, please." Asami just gently turns the girl on her side, away from Korra. At the movement, Ikki opens her eyes and starts, seeing Asami's face right in front of hers. She airbends and flips over Korra silently, the air cushioning her fall on the other side of the bed. "Don't stand so close, you scared me!"

Straightening the sheets, Asami motions Ikki to do the same on the other side. "I just wanted to wake you. Korra leaves the window open at night, and you'd get cold if you stayed in here."

At the mention of the cold, Ikki shudders. "I guess I'll go to my room, then. See you in the morning." After finishing with the sheets, she whispers "good night" and slips through the door, leaving Asami alone with a sleeping Korra.

The Avatar looks bone-achingly tired, reclining on her back, her chest rising and falling with every deep breath. In the cool night air, her breath comes out as curls of steam. Asami appraises the dark circles beneath her eyes and the soft lines of worry on her brow, wondering if the Avatar ever feels fully rested. Even in sleep, she is haunted by her duty, her honor, her past mistakes and future expectations. Equalists still crawl all over Republic City, with more and more moderates begging the new council to hear their grievances, still stirring up trouble on every street corner. Some of their concerns, Asami thought, were certainly legitimate: in a city full of non-benders, why shouldn't non-benders have representation on the council?

But all of the hard work takes a toll on Korra, who is expected to make public appearances and help the diminished police force on missions, to master airbending, and to show a brave face. And no matter how many times she kicks her legs, twists her arms, or stomps the ground, she can only bend air. The other elements are lost to her; Asami sometimes hears her crying at night, when she thinks no one can hear. Some mornings she catches her down by the ocean, futilely trying to bend the water, arms moving relentlessly in katas. Tenzin advises her to wait for the solstice, the one night when she can journey to the Spirit World and commune with the other Avatars, but that is still two months away. Until then, Korra drags herself out of bed in the mornings and to the breakfast table, where she meets their hopeful expressions with tired eyes and a bruised heart.

Absorbed in her thoughts, Asami has moved to stand next to Korra and is staring down at the sleeping girl's face. Slumber brings to the Avatar's face a kind of peace, as the worry and sadness disappear from her blue eyes, reminding Asami of the girl she first met - the one who gushed about probending for hours, who would argue strategy at the breakfast table and laugh at everyone's jokes (though they were mostly her own Water Tribe jokes and distinctly unfunny). Without thinking, she reaches out and moves some hair off Korra's face, fingers brushing against her tanned skin. The sleeping girl stirs but does not wake, instead curling into the pillow.

Asami smiles.

"Sweet dreams, Avatar."

 

2.

Korra wakes as a soft breeze trails across her skin, raising goose bumps on her bare arms. A chill in the air informs her that dusk is long past gone, and a soft noise triggers her to open her eyes and blearily look around. Cracked open slightly, the window is the source of the cool wind. She leaves the window open at night so she can feel the air, so she can feel some kind of connection to her bending. Through the small gap she can see faint stars in the sky and the moon, who is hanging low on the horizon, and the landscape of the city across Yue Bay. On the other side of the room is Asami, back turned to Korra. Her long hair curls below her shoulders as she moves a chair back against the wall.

"Hey." Korra's voice is raspy. Asami jumps before spinning around, green eyes wide. She settles when she sees that Korra is awake.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

She looks worried, and Korra wants to smooth the soft furrow between her brows. "No, no. It wasn't you. I've just… had some trouble sleeping lately." It's true. She'll doze off but wake up several times a night, grasping for an element she can no longer bend: any of them, all of them. She's woken up crying, sobbing, and shivering, always feeling like there's a raw wound on her soul. There's an emptiness inside of her where her bending used to be, and the levity of air can't make up for the slow burn of fire, the grounded sense of earth, and the soft tug of water. Every morning she struggles through meditation, trying not to fall asleep like one of the children, completely exhausted.

Instead of calming her, her words just make Asami more concerned. "Should we have a healer look at you?"

Korra shrugs while pulling the sheets over her body. "I doubt they can do anything. Are the kids asleep?"

The other girl smoothly goes with her re-direction of the conversation, sending Korra one last troubled look, and begins to extinguish the lanterns. "Yes. I just checked in and they're all back in their quarters, sleeping beneath their sky bison blankets." The second light goes out, letting shadows play over Asami's face, highlighting her red lips and the smooth planes of her cheeks. Her dark robes become inky black, blurring her form in Korra's sight. "You should get some rest for airbending training. I'll be out of here in just a moment."

Rolling her eyes, the Avatar turns on her side to follow Asami's movements as she crosses the room. "Airbending is still so much more difficult than the other elements. It doesn’t come to me easily - I'm not light and flighty." She curls in on herself, bringing her knees up to her chest. "I feel vulnerable without my bending," she admits reluctantly. "I'm not good enough at airbending to put up a strong defense yet."

A few moments pass in silence as Asami crosses the room, carefully snuffing out one of the last lanterns. Korra patiently waits, thinking that it looks like she's considering a plan, the gears turning in her mind, steam rising in lazy curls from the machine of her mind. She's rewarded when Asami next speaks, her tone tentatively optimistic. "You should join me for my hand-to-hand fighting practice tomorrow. It's useful in close quarters, and it will probably improve your bending techniques too." Korra feels her mouth twist in a wry smile. That's Asami,  accepting people and giving them help, no matter how horribly they might have treated her in the past.

Still, she's grateful that she would even offer. Korra knows she's been in a terrible mood lately, always causing problems: yelling at Mako and Bolin for joking about Tahno when he came to stay with them, inviting Tahno to stay in the first place, frequently running away into the city to get lost in the bustle. "I'll think about it," she concedes after a minute. It might be a good idea to get some alternative training. "Maybe I'll join you tomorrow, just to get a feel for it." The green-eyed girl just smiles, murmuring an affirmative noise, and heads toward the door. Her hand is reaching for the last lantern when Korra sighs.

"Asami," she says, voice serious and low, "what if I never get my bending back? What if I end up being Korra, the Avatar that couldn't bend?"

The girl pauses before extinguishing the final flame, glancing over at Korra. When she speaks, her voice is contemplative. "I've read  _Dragon of the West_ before. After his visit to the Spirit World, Iroh realizes that a balance exists in the world between everything: between good and bad; water, fire, earth, and air; the spirits and us. We cross the line all the time, upsetting the balance, but after a while the balance is eventually restored. Iroh thought it was fate, the universe coming back into equilibrium." Asami smiles, leaning against the door. "You'll get your bending back, Korra.  It's your destiny. You are the balance."

Frustrated, Korra clenches her fist in the sheets. "But how do you know?" Her tone is equal parts frustration and desperation.

"You can do it. I believe in you." The words come without hesitation from the other girl. She puts out the last lantern, casting the room into shadows, with the open window the only source of light. The moon shines bright white as she rises in the sky, as if smiling while bestowing her gift on Republic City. "Now, go to sleep. You're going to need your rest if we're training tomorrow."

Korra can see her wicked grin even in the dark.

"I won't go easy on you just because you're the Avatar."

 

3.

That night, Korra dreams.

She dreams of a gigantic island drifting in the middle of the sea. A soft chanting sound rings in her ears, and she can feel the push and pull of the ocean again, and softer tugs of the water pulsing through the thousand types of flora surrounding her. In her dreams she can bend all the elements, the earth clay in her hands and fire just a spark away, and it's the most beautiful thing she's ever felt. She cries and feels the tears trailing down her face.

The Avatar finally feels some semblance of peace and balance, as if she has gained back some of what she lost, as if she's redeemed herself. Korra is diving in an arc into the water, bending it to cover her body and feeling the salt spray on her face, when she is suddenly thrown from her dream world into reality.

Sunlight is creeping in through the window, signaling the arrival of morning. Birds chirp in the distance, singing beautiful songs that she might appreciate on another day, but today all she can think is  _why would the spirits send me such a punishing dream?_  

Because as soon as she focuses, she knows that she can't bend all the elements again. Her dream was just that - a dream. It wasn't a miracle, it wasn't some kind of spiritual healing. Her connection to those elements is still gone; she feels no kinship with the ocean outside, the sun wakes nothing in her as it rises, and the earth feels dead below her bed. She has only this: a small cyclone spawning in her hand without much thought. At least her airbending skills are improving.

After crying silently for untold minutes, she forces herself to get out of bed with a sense of purpose. She'll go to airbending training today and try her hardest, and she'll go to training with Asami, and she'll study and meditate and do everything spiritual that Tenzin says, trying to connect with her previous lives.

 _I believe in you_ , Asami had said.

Korra determines to finally do something deserving of that devotion.


End file.
